Reviews

Shallow, exploitative towards men, dull. But I have a question. Why do so many writers in sit-coms, commercials, comedy movies want to make men look so stupid and like such jerks? I think men and women everywhere are hungry to see strong, competent men (even when they are funny). Sit-coms have stopped standing for "situation comedies" and have instead focused all their humor towards making men look stupid and like jerks. Is it because the writers are incompetent or do they really think that men are like that? I think it's because they have been led to believe that they are, and I even think men no longer see themselves as strong and competent. Can't we have some writing that finds humor in the situation? We find ourselves in funny situations all the time. "40-Year Old Virgin" was in the same genre, written to make men look stupid.

I LOVE the movies. I see at least 1 per week and have all my life. When I really like a movie I often see it nine times. Most fade into the area of memory where you can only remember the plot if you see it again and know that something about it is familiar, indicating you have already seen it - you still can't remember what happens. This movie has stayed fresh in my memory bank for over 30 years. It is beautifully written, acted, directed and certainly worth seeing again and again. Simply a wonderful film. I remember Tom Couretenay's portrayal of the young priest vividly; his quiet and respectful performance was perfect for the role.

I loved this movie. I loved the respect evident throughout for the richness and complexity of the characters. So often, it seems the musical director thinks the music is the star of the film, and it becomes difficult to hear the dialogue. Not this film. Thank you so much for a powerful drama about realistic characters, and for allowing the audience to "see" their thoughts without being bombarded and distracted by overloud music. I especially enjoyed the understated Viggo Mortensen and Maria Bello performances and the obvious chemistry between the two of them. I hope everyone pays close attention to their interaction and remember, all of their dialogue, both spoken and unspoken, is meaningful and sometimes powerful.

I am a 63-year-old woman and I took my little 5-year-old granddaughter to see this movie - WRITTEN by a KID for KIDS with KIDS acting the parts! She loved it, and I loved seeing her love it. Nothing was beyond her level to comprehend with her unlimited imagination and zest. It was a pleasure for both of us, and she talked about it for days. She loved the prompts to "put on the glasses" and "take them off" and loved having that interaction and being able to tell me when to do same. I am so irritated at the ADULTS who trashed this movie MADE FOR SMALL CHILDREN! Don't GO or WATCH if you don't want to see a children's movie! Congratulations to the Rodriguez family for honoring the children!

Had it not been for the editing problems, I would have rated this movie an 8 for the excellent plot and very good characterizations from Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn, along with an excellent supporting cast. I thought editing consisted, in part, of seeing to it that each scene has continuity within itself. When Nicole Kidman's hair was seen in almost every scene as jumping from one messed up way and back to another messed up way with every camera focus, it became maddening. This problem could have been solved by simply having a continuous "breeze" blowing her hair so that it was inc constant motion. Either that or a different hairstyle that was easier to control. Who's responsible for watching these kinds of things?

I love movies. I'll see a really good movie nine times, paying full admission at the theater. I'm not really a critic. Give me a good story with interesting characters and I won't notice small editing flaws. I'm very willing to suspend disbelief and escape into the plot. I've walked out on 4 movies in my lifetime. This was one of them. I went to see it with two people who love to laugh at the movies. They usually get the whole theater laughing. No one laughed in Anchorman. It was truly awful. I am especially disappointed because my favorite movie critic, Gary Cogill, really liked it. He almost never recommends a bad movie, but this movie was poorly written and acted, had no plot, was completely predictable, and boring. We stayed 20 minutes to give it a fair chance.